Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

I’ve been reading Games and Songs of American Children by William Wells Newell, a Dover reprint of the 1903 edition. I find it fascinating how games are transmitted from generation to generation, games like “Tag”, “Button button who has the button?”, “The church and the steeple” or “Odd or even?” These games are not learned from teachers in a school, or read in a book, or typically even taught from parents. For the most part they are transmitted from child to child, from an older sibling, or a peer, through the most casual pathways. Games like this have spread across the country and beyond without any overt effort. In a way, it is like language.

So, that made me think about the “classic” children’s Christmas parody of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells”. I assume there is no part of this country where these words are not known to every child. But it exists in no songbook. Who first sang these words, and when and where was it done? How fast did it travel? I think if a sufficient survey was done of adults of various ages, as to when and where they recall first hearing these lyrics, one could reconstruct the migration of this bit of modern folklore. Those who heard it earliest would have heard it closer to its source.

It would help my little research if any old-timers (say over 40 years old) left a comment indicating what version you heard first, where you heard it (town and state) and approximately what year you heard it. I’d like to figure out what the original version truly was, and where it came from and how fast it spread.

There are several variants of this song. The one I grew up with was:

Jingle Bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg.
The Batmobile lost a wheel
and the Joker got away (Hey!)

Other reported versions include:

Shotgun shells, Santa smells,
Rudolf ran away,
Oh what fun it is to ride
in a beat-up Chevrolet!

or

Jingle bells, shotgun shells,
Santa Claus is dead,
Rudolf got a .22
and shot him in the head.

or

Jingle Bells, Shotgun Shells,
BB’s in the air.
Oh, what fun it is to ride
in Santa’s underwear!”

or

Jingle Bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg,
The Batmobile lost a wheel,
and the Joker joined ballet , Hey!

Check the comments for other variations. Some have alternate lyrics to the verse as well as the chorus.

Nine years after I wrote this post I was prompted by Robert Evans over at Cracked to offer updated thoughts on the question of the origins of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.” We both went through the comments on this post, correlated the dates and places, and I then did further research in newspaper archives to try to locate the earliest printed occurrence of these lines. What we found out might surprise you. More over at The Secret True History of “Jingle Bells Batman Smells.”

Southeast PA, early 70’s, Your version, and also two other parodies of Jingle Bells: 1.Shotgun shells, Santa smells, Rudolf ran away, Oh what fun it is to ride in a beat-up Chevrolet!2. Jingle bells, shotgun shells,Santa Claus is dead, Rudolf got a .22 and shot him in the head.

My husband’s contribution, Vancouver BC, ca 1965?? Only the first part is certain, the rest is now in scraps and tatters, and if anyone can help ?

Jingle bells, jingle bells, Santa Claus is dead,Someone took a beebee gun and shot him in the head, hey!

Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh,Hunting down the elves, laughing all the way

(Bells on bob-tail ring,making spirits bright — there MAY have been something in this phrase about blood on the snow, but that’s one of the lost parts)Oh what fun it is to ride and sing a slaying song tonight, hey!

mine is similar it’s:
dashing through the snow
on a pair of broken skis
through the fields we go
crashing into trees
my face is turning red
i think im almost dead
i woke up in the hospital with stitches in my head

Dashing through the snow with a pair of broken skies over the hills we go crashing into trees the snow is glowing red I think I’m almost dead I woke up in the hospital with stitches in my head oooh 9 1 1 9 1 1 Santa Claus is dead rodolph took a .44 and shot him in the head oh Barbie doll Barbie doll tries to save his life but g.i. Joe from Mexico staped him with a knife

this is one i learned when i was about 7 or 8, “jingle bells batman smells, robin laid an egg! batmobile lost a wheel and joker took ballet hey! dashing through the snow on a broken pair of skis over hills we go, crashing into trees hahaha the snow is turning red, i think im almost dead, will someone call an ambulance before i lose my head hey! not a very good song to be singing at 7 years old i kno but what can you do?

the last song goes Dashing through the snow on a pair of broken skis and crashing into trees the snow is turning red i think im almost dead but i wake up in a hospital bed with stiches in my head Hey 911 911 barneys on the run and i forget the rest of the song so am gonna say HEY

Dashing through the snow on a pair of broken skis
Over the hills we go crashing through the trees
The snow is turning red
I think I’m almost dead
I woke up in the hospital with stitches in my head (hey!)
911 911 babies robbing the bank!
Gi-joe from Mexico
Shot her with a tank!
Oh! Jingle bells
Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
Batmobile lost a wheel and the joker got away…..

jingle bells, jingle bells, santa clause is dead rudolph took a 22 and shot him in the head barbie doll barbie doll tried to save his life but GI joe from mexico stabed her with a knife. That’s a pretty bad one.

Our Rural Australian Version went along the same lines with
Jingle bells
Batman Smells
Robin laid an egg
Santa got his 22
and shot him in the head
woo
Barbie doll Barbie doll (also sometimes teddy bear teddy bear)
Tried to save his life
Cat-woman, Cat-woman
stabbed him with a knife

ahah ok heres onejingle bellsbatman smells robbin layed an egg,batmobil lost its wheel and joker got away hey!batmans in the kitchen robbins in the halljokers in the bathroom peeing on the wall !…ahah i just heard that one

I remember ‘thinking’ that I had writen:
“Batmans in the kitchen,
Robins in the hall,
Jokers in the bathroom, peeing on the wall” in response to ‘jingle bells, batman smells” around 1988 in GA. A year or so later, I remember having an argument with a friend that I had written that, but he claimed to hear it in KY around the same time I ‘wrote it’. I found this site because I had the same question.. how quickly do these spread? And, perhaps, I subconsciously heard it before that, but I can remember working out the rhyme and feeling accomplish as a 5 or 6 year old.

dashing through the snow on a pair of broken skis over the cliffs I go, crashing into treesthe snow is turning red, I think I’m almost dead. I woke up in the hospital with stitches in my headO911 911 call it all the wayO what fun it is to ride in an ambulance all day HEY911 911 call it all the way O. what. fun. it. is. to. ride. in. a. onehorse o-pensleeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Batman’s in the kitchen,Robin’s in the hall,Joker’s in the bathroompeeing on the wall.Penguin’s on the potty,His arms too short to wipe,Catwoman’s in the litter boxAnd the Riddler smokes a pipe.O, Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg,The Batmobile lost a wheel and the Joker got away!

jingle bells,batman smells, robin layed an egg!the batmobile lost a wheel,and joker`s song is gay!oooooh..jingle bells,shotgun shells,mad hatter is dead!robin got a .22,and shot him in the head!ooooooooh!

*chorus*prancing through the snow,joker has his day,taking all the jewls,laughing all the way!mwa hah hah!

next verse:

batmans in the kitchen,robins in the hall,jokers on the porch,peeing on the wall! penguins on the potty, his arms too short to wipe,catwomans in the litter box,and robin smokes a pipe!

Another +1 for this version in Australia. I grew up in Melbourne, and this is what we sang in primary school (circa 1978). There were other verses, but too rude for my sensitive little ears to remember :)

Dashing through the snow,on a pair of broken skis,down the hill we go,crashing into trees. The snow is turning red,oh my gosh santa claus he’s dead! Oh, 911,911 santa’s really dead! Oh barbie doll,barbie doll tried yo save his life. But GI Joe from Mexico stabbed her with a knife!

Kids on the West Side of Manhattan have taught me:Dashing through the snowon a pair of broken skiso'er the fields we goAnd crashing into treesThe sno is turning redI think Im almost deadAll I want for Christmas is an artificial headoh 9-1-1-, 9-1-1Someone call the copsTake me to the hospital and feed me lollipops!

But as a child on Long Island in the 70's we sangJingle BellsBatman SmellsRobin laid an eggThe Batmobile broke it's wheel and the Joker got away!

the one that i remember lerning when i was a kid is:
jingle bells
batman smell
robin laid an egg
batmobile lost a weel and
joker played ballet hey

dashing through the snow
on a pair of broken skiis
over the hill we go
crashing into trees ow ow ow
the snow is turning red
i think im gonna die
and all i want for christmas is a bloodshot through the eye ooh,

Jingle bells jingle bells grandma lost her way found a gun and now he is done now she is laughin all way hey hey hey jingle bells jingle bells the police came by one day where did ya find tht gun he asked oh wait i left it here yesterday

Jingle bells, shotgun shells,
Santa Claus is dead,
G.I. Joe, the eskimo,
Shot him in the head, (Oh!)
Barbie doll, Barbie doll,
Tried to save his life,
But G.I. Joe, the eskimo,
Stabbed her with a knife.

i heard a song that went, jingel bells, batman smells, robin laid an egg, the batmobile lost a wheel, and joker got away, batmans in the kitchen, robins in the hall, jokers in the bathroom peeing on the wall

Got one
Crashing to the sleigh,
The snow is turning gray,
I think the world is going to end in 2010 ole!
Hey!
Jingle bells, Dora smells,
Boots laid an egg, oh what what it is to ride on Dora”s butt,
hEy

Here are two versions we used to sing as children in the 1970s in Massachusetts:

Jingle bells
Stinker smells
Rudolph ran away
Stuffed his nose
With Cheerios
And ate ’em on the way

And the Batman version was:

Jingle bells
Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
The Batmobile
Lost it’s wheel
And joker got away
(According to my husband who grew up on Long Island in the same era, the last lime of this version should be “A hundred miles away” instead of “And Joker got away”–I’ve never heard that version until I met him in 2001)

As a kid in the mid-late ’60s in Indianapolis, the version we sang was, “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. The Batmobile lost a wheel & the Joker got away.” My husband, who was a kid in Port Arthur, TX, around the same time, substituted Penguin for Joker, but otherwise the same version. However, I do recall 1 of the versions which included shotgun shells, too, but only vaguely.

dashing through the snow on a pair of broken skis down the hill we go crashing into trees ow ow ow the snow is turning red i think im almost dead all i wanted for christmas is a hospital bed ooooooooohhhhhhh 911 911 calling 911 while im on broken skis say oh wat fun hey

Jingle bells, Batman smells,
Robin ran away.
The Batmobile lost its wheel
and the Commisioner died that day.
(Later on, I heard it “Robin flew away”, which I thought was stupid since Robin couldn’t fly)

Deck the halls with gasoline (falalalalalalalala)
Light a match and run and scream(falalalalalalalala)
Watch the school burn down in ashes(falalalalalalalala)
Aren’t u glad I played with matches(falalalalalalalala)

There’s another one:

Dashing through the snow on a pair of broken skiis falling off the cliffs breaking botth my knees the snow is turning red I think I might be dead all I wasn’t for christmas is a hospital bed
OH
Jingle bells batman smells robin laid a gun
Shot his but in pizza hut in 1981

It seems most folks have heard ‘the Joker got away’ and only one person’s husband from Texas had heard the Penguin version. I’d love to see a map showing the areas that learned ‘Penguin’ and the ones that learned ‘Joker’. Would be most interesting!

dashing through the snow, on a pair of brocken skiis. bumping into trees ,knocking out my teeth.
i take 10 pills each day, and stiches in my brain. and now im lying in my bed with pinecones in my head. hey! jingle bells……

did anyone else notice the all the verses with “laid an egg” don’t rhyme ??? i remember hearing it in the 70’s here in Australia but it was one of the “robin flew away”versions… cant remember it all . my kids had not heard it 8 and 5 .

Dashing through the snow,
On a pair of broken skis.
All the way we go,
Crashing into trees.
The snow is turning red,
I think I’m almost dead,
I wake up in the hospital with ski poles in my head.

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells,
Santa Claus is dead.
Rudolph took a .22 and shot him in the head.
Oh, Barbie doll, Barbie doll,
Tried to save his life
But G.I. Joe from Mexico stabbed her with a knife.

The “Christmas with the Joker” episode of Batman: The Animated Series (originally aired November 13, 1992) opens with the Joker singing the first version of the song verbatim (without the Hey! at the end). It’s also the version that was around in the late ’80s / early ’90s when I was growing up in Northeast Ohio. But from reading all the replies, it seems it was the definitive version almost from the very beginning.

I have a hard time believing this wasn’t in the original ’60s cartoon, or part of something supplementing it, or on a cereal box, or something! It’s always bothered me that it doesn’t really seem to go together very well at all. How did this catch on over other possible variants that were more, well, catchy? No one has reported hearing it before the cartoon was on. And how did so many people first hear it when the cartoon was new–shouldn’t it have taken some time to spread? I hoped to find an answer to the origin after seeing this episode, but now all I have is more questions…

One of the very first time I heard the song, was in that simpsons episode, one of my favorites, when Bart set up a casino in his treehouse and get Robert Goulet and then after the song he hits Milhouse with the microphone so hard…hahahahahaha…

I invented this one in 1977 in Leamington Spa, England-
Jingle bells, Batman smells,
Robin ran away.
Catwoman stinks and Jez always winks
at people who are gay.
Jez was a friend of ours.
I’m now 50 and no longer make homophobic songs up.

Jingle Bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg.
The Batmobile lost a wheel
and the Joker got away……….First heard this in 4th grade (1976) Chicago…..Man does this bring back memories!!!! We used to sing this all the time on the bus while going home near Christmastime……sweet sweet memories!!

hey, i read your post or whatever they call it here and figured i’d let you know where i heard it. i’m not sure if this is the first time the “batman smells” song was ever sung, but i heard it sung by the joker in a batman christmas special from the batman animated series. (the old one, not the new batman superman aventures) the episode is called christmas with the joker. it was made around 1992. i’m only a teen so i’m not sure what came first (the chicken or the egg lol). i was just *interested* (*obsessed) in batman so i bought the series. i hope this helps!

I first heard it in the Batman: The Animated Series episode (the old series). I can’t remember which one it was, but it was a Christmas one on rerun on some random channel. The Joker sang it and then flew away on a Christmas tree (it sounds weird written down) I heard it on a Simpsons episode as well. “Simpsons roasting on an open fire”.

Growing up on the South Coast of England in the Early 80’s, i always remember it being:
Jingle Bells
Batman Smells
Robin Flew Away
The Batmobile
Has Lost It’s Wheel
On The M1 Motorway.

I have heard other versions though. ‘Robin Flew Away’ rhymes much better than ‘Robin Laid An Egg’. Someone in another post mentioned that Robin Couldn’t fly so he was unsure why kids sang it. TBH i think it less likely that Robin could lay an egg but that’s just me!
Seriously though, i always understood it that it was a play on words, Robin the DC Character cannot fly, but the more famously known Robin (the actual Bird) can.

With regards to ‘My Uncle Billy’s Lost His Willy On The Motorway’, that is a variation taken from mixing the ‘Jingle Bells Batman Smells’ Rhyme, and the Rhyme:
My mate Billy has a 10 foot willy,
He showed it to the girl next door,
She thought it was a snake,
And cut it with a rake,
And now it’s only 4 foot 4 (4’4″)

Oh the inventiveness of kids rhyming the words Billy and Willy!

I doubt i’ll be teaching the latter rhyme to my 5yr old, i’ll let the kids at his school teach him if they havn’t come up with ruder ones by now.

ok, heres the jingle bells song i heard in grade school almost 45 years ago.

Riding through metropolis, in the batmobile today, in pursuit of the joker, nothings going their way, as our heroes get close, the joker flips them the bird, the batmobile spins out of control and wipes out by the curb OHH, jingle bells batman smells, robin laid an egg, the batmobile lost its wheel and the joker got away, ehh, jingle bells batman smells robin got out the jack, he placed it under the batmobile, but it slipped and crushed his back. Now the batmans sad ,cause robin’s laid to rest, the joker finnaly got revenge for gothom city’s best!

holy moses king of the jews
made his wife a pair of shoes
when the shoes began to wear
holy moses started to swear.

and the lords prayer one, my dad told me this one, it was the whole thing about 8 verses its driving me nuts trying to remember it, so i just remember some parts of it, this is something he heard of back in the 1920’s so its old, masybe your grand father heard of it

our father who art in vain,
drove cattle across the plain,
then came moses in a ray of sun,
banging out thunder on a big bass drum

There’s a scene in “The Simpsons Christmas Special” where Bart’s in the 4th grade class singing the alternative lyrics, and just as he sings “the Joker’s got away”, he gets yanked out by one of the teachers. Talk about comedic genius.

jingle bells shotgun shells
rudolphs nose is broke
blizen broke in with some glass
and now blitzen might choke
*chorus*
dashing through the snow
on a sliegh without no light
santa ran away
as he was with a fright
he didnt see a tree bumping into me
now i woke up under wood in the middle of the night
*end of chorus*

jingle bells shotgun shells
santa ran away
now i woke in hospital with
my my tonsils in a tray

That song was already well known by the animators of this show. I heard in elementary school in San Diego California in the mid 1960’s when the Batman TV show was the only thing any kids talked about in school. We sang this over and over and everyone tried to change it, but we always settled on the basic ending the Joker got away – hey!

Your first version. Austin, TX. Late 60’s. I am surprised that this was national. I thought that it was just something we made up as a kid. I don’t know why I decided to look up something so silly 40 years later.

I heard this song when I was a kid growing up in australia, I would’ve been about 6 years old and Batman was on TV. The song went like this:
Jingle Bells Batman smells
Robyn fleww away
The bat mobile lost its wheel
So they all flew TAA Trans Australia Airlines)

I heard the first one in the early 80’s. My daughter, who is now 10, has some really long gory version going around her school (there’s several verses all ending up in the hospital and Santa Claus is dead)

I first heard some kids singing the “Jingle bells batman smells …” version in 1993 in Tucson. When I was a kid back in the late 50’s early 60’s we pretty much stuck to the regular lyrics except for “oh what fun it is to ride in grandma’s chevrolet” although when ever my sister and I sang the song together we had to race to see who could sing the song the fastest regardless of who was singing with us or where we were singing.

Hey! I think i heard this in a Batman the animated series christmas episode! Joker sang it then flew away on the Arkam Asylam christmas tree! The christmas tree was actually a rocket though. OK this sounds weird written down.

Here i have that part on youtube… Please watch it! then you will understand what the heck i am talking about!

been wondering this for years , who the heck came up with this ? who sang it first ? questions I ask every xmas . the version I heard was , jingle bells , batman smells , robin laid an egg , bat mobile lost its wheel and robin flew away , or the joker got away , first heard it when I was around 5 years old , which would be in 1974 . I wanna know the answer , please e-mail if you find out where this originated .

O.k., kids, it was 1966-67 , growing up on post at Fort Knox, KY, when I heard the full rendition with Robin in the hall and the chorus where the joker got away in part to the bat mobile’s lost wheel. But the only part my 2nd grade brain remembered was the chorus because the intro was too long winded. Besides the chorus was the funniest part to sing to our parents.

The Batman smells version was what we learned in Maine during the 1970’s, and Maine was pretty backwoods during this time. My friends uncle was Adam West, who played batman in the TV show. I always assumed in came from highschoolers at this time, because of the reruns of the TV show, but many people remember it earlier. We didn’t have the other verses or the ones about Santa in my school. Hey! Robin laid an egg. Where the hell did that come from?
It is also interesting to note that before the internet, things like this and urban legends spread rather well through the school systems. You couldn’t research then like you can now – there is something freeing about that, something special. Interesting that this x gen is the generation that was without and then the start of internet, the start of home comBooters.

I too remember this jingle vivdly, growing up in Boston in the 1970s. As a Batman fan, my friends and I used to debate whether or not we should sing this song, which obviously was not very kind to Batman! In the end, we couldn’t help ourselves – it was irresistable. Do wonder where it started…

“Crashing through the snow on a pair of broken skis, jumping over rocks crashing into trees, my world is turning red I think I am dead. I woke up and this is what I said, “Jingle Bells batman smells robin laid a gun, he shot in a pizza hut in 1981!”

The beginning is not mine but the rest is…
Jingle bells Batman smells,Robin lays an egg, joker stole the bat mobile and penguin ran away.
Cat-woman doesn`t do baths, the riddler got gas.Two face always wears a mask.Gotham never sleeps,Ivy never eats and Mr. freeze heats.Jingle bells, jingle bells scarecrow lives in hell, Bane always fails, Harley takes some pills and batwomen always kills. Alfred`s in jail, Clay-face melts in pail and Killer Croc chases his tail. So Jingle belle, Hush always yells, Professor Strange is blackmailed, Man-bat kills Grundy and Mad hatter is madder—–For he takes a bomb—sets his alarm–to blow them all away. This is the part where everyone starts, to not notice— to save the day.

I swear to high heaven that I came up with this variation in the early to mid 90’s (Illinois, USA):

Jingle bells, taco shells
Granny had a gun
Shot me in the underwear
And, boy, I had to run

When I was young I didn’t, and still don’t, enjoy being like everyone else. So while the “batman smells” version was popular with us kids, I experimented with other rhymes. There was a “jingle bells, taco bell…” version someone spouted out one day. That’s when I “created” my version. Even back then some friend of my brother’s didn’t believe me when I said I made it up, because he had heard it from somewhere else. Whether or not I am responsible for the existence of this version of the song is up for debate. But I did come up with it myself, without influence.

Crashing through the snow
On a pair of broken skis
Over the hills we go
Crashing into trees
(Ow! Ow! Ow!)
The snow is turning red
I think I’m nearly dead
I’m gonna spend the rest of Christmas
In a hospital bed!

i herd some children sing the same words over and over again. unfortunetly when i started to pay attention they stopped so can only come up with the first bit. any one know why they would not compete this

jingle bells, batman smells
robin is [so?] gay
oh what fun it ………..[this is where they stopped]

My feeling about how this song spread around the world is the children of US military familes. I first heard it back in Christmas of 1966 when the Batman TV series started in September of 1966. That was the only thing elementary school kids talked about and the toys were all we wanted for Christmas. I lived in San Diego California and our school was half military kids. Our city was a big military hub at the height of the Vietnam War. Every branch of the services was active there. I remember we sang the original chorus over and over. Kids tried to add versions, but the original ending was always the Joker got away – Hey!. My assumption was that as military kids were suddenly moved around the country they would arrive in a new school and that silly song was a familiar memory of their former friends. Once it was heard by the new group they would be “Kool” and other kids would copy their new song. I think the original chorus was tried and true and whatever you learn first is your memory of the right way. When another comes along it is quickly rejected. It takes a kid to move with a different version for that one to be known as the original. That is my guess how it migrated around the world and did not change very much. I went to research this song version after walking kids to school and hearing a 7 year old claim it was new. I am 54 and I remember it felt new when I was 7. The version we were singing was “Jingle Bells, Santa smells, Rudolph lost his way. Blah blah blah in a one horse Chevrolet. hey! This version was popular in school, because the 1960’s commerical hit song was “See the USA in your Chevrolet” played on every TV channel during kids shows. Christmas of 1966 is when I first heard it switch to Batman Smells, Robin layed an egg and the Batmobile logically replaced the sleigh and our Chevrolet. Please post a reply if you heard this version before Christmas 1966 and where you were.

New version jingle bells batman smells robin flew away batmans in a football field and scored a penalty dashing thru the snow on a pair of broken skies over the fields we go bashing into trees hahaha the snow is turning red I think I might be dead now I’m in hospital with stitches in my head oh jingle bells batman smells robin flew away yeah

Honestly, I would look into what GROUP started this. The trend (since this started) has been a steady decline towards making heroes uncool.

I submit to you that this was part of an opening salvo against “hero minded” types trying to save the world.

As conspiratorial as it sounds, a lot of very similar things happened at the same time and it all centered around music in our culture, possibly as a response to the powerful influence music had on organizing hippy culture…

My theory is that the Batman version of the “Jingle Bells” lyrics originated sometime in the late 1960’s during the run of the popular TV show of the time. Some creative kid came up with the lyrics and they went viral across the nation.

Yes, the “joker got away” version is the one I learned in the 90’s in MI. From reading other posts, it looks like we learned it from the Jokers Christmas Special from the animated series (feeling pretty manipulated/unoriginal).
My hunch is that it started with the original series in 60s/70s. It would be interesting to know if it was started by a kid or if it was part of the TV series/promotions. I didn’t realize it was that old, but it makes more sense now why the language was so tame (laying an egg is a pretty lame insult). Looks like (from other posts) it started to lose popularity in the 80s, so they revived it in the 90s via animated series.
Now my nephew (also in MI) is singing the broken skis version. Don’t know which version exactly, but I know it is one of the more gory variations. I plan to have him revive the Batman version complete with Joker peeing on the wall.

I think I first heard it from the Joker himself. It was on the Batman: The Animated Series in the late 80s. “Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg; the Batmobile, lost its wheel, and the Joker got away!”

If they will solved the case of the song like Jingle Bells, Batman Smells to crack the case like the detectives and the archeologists to dig the truths. I will know if it was a big answer of the mystery of the song, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells to the History of DC Comics. And the song, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells could ruin Christmas and the Holiday. From The end of Summers to the New Year Eve. For follies and such silliness.
made all villain bands of bad guys listing to us, singing Jingle Bells, Batman Smells to sing it on the superheroes to ruining its justices.
and then the worst of resinging of Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!

Here are the next part of Jingle Bells, Batman Smells is an parts with the characters of all cartoons from around the world. as I Was saying that the peoples of American popular cultures are been using bad words and even censorships for its American culture of its popularity in America. As I don’t want the Native Americans to be a good guys and the settlers and govermnets ans troops of American to be a bad guys, and I don’t want the settlers, governments, and troops of America to be a god guys and the Native Americans to be a bad guys. Because this people between Americans and Native Americans are feuding each other for homelands by violence with prejudice and racism. So I choose Canada as a best place to set an stories to take place without any sterotypes to portraited and put a plots like Hollywood cartoon makers did. So I also used Bert Racoon refused to sing a song like the foul humrous Wes gangs sing,
Jingle Bells, Boris Smells,
Kermit lay an eggs,
Bert Raccoon in Las Vegas,
gambling with Lisa, hey!
Jingle Bells, Ariel Smells,
she married Don Karnage,
Oh what it is to drinks
at Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits, hey!
Jingle Bells, Louis Smells,
Teddy Bear lay and eggs,
Woody and Buzz got a hoots,
In Pooh Bear’s old outhouse, hey!

Dashing through the Batmoblie,
On the one horse open sled,
On the field we go,
Joker gaot away, HA, HA, HA!
I’m the one with the Batmoblie,
And making spirits bright,
What fun it is to ride and sing,
And Joker got away,
Oh, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells,
Robin lay an egg,
The batmoblie lost all wheels
and Joker got away,
Hey!! Jingle Bells, Batman Smells,
Robin lay an egg,
The Batmoblie, lost it wheels
And Joket took ballet, Hey!
This Batman pardoy Jingle Bells song is from my next door neighbor,
Mitcheal. I remeber when me and my mother sang Jingle Bells,
And then my sister Anna Westgate sang, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.
I never heard it, and I thinks it’s sounded silly for me and my mother.

Skeletor sang with the Gremlins from Gremilns (1984) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990),
He-Man is an big fat old whale,
He-Man is an big fat old whale,
He-Man is an big fat old whale,
And Orko, a souter puss!
Good timing to tear an whole world, a trash,
And She-Ra is a fat bug,
And we will rule the planets!

Frosty the Yeti,
He’s a mystery beast, today,
With a smoking pipe and a golden teeth,
and he’s eyes we’re really cute,
Frosty the Yeti,
Is a detective story, they say,
He went to the famous Monsters, Inc.
To buy a boxes of cigars!

Jingle bells, Jingle bells
Robin went to hell
thought he was the superman and tried to fly but fell
Hey!
x2
Crashing through the snow,
on a pair of broken ski’s
down the ravine we go
falling to our knees,
I think the snow is red,
I think I’m nearly dead,
so someone call the ambulance before I freeze to death,
Hey!

Most of that book’s material was gathered from research in British rather than American schools. I studied and worked in the UK for five years after high school, and I found it really fascinating (by reading that book and talking to friends) to see which children’s rhymes and games had managed to leap from one side of the Atlantic to the other (and perhaps back) and which had not.

I was born in 63 in the Detroit area. Heard it first in about 1968 while throwin snowballs with the “big kids” (8-10 years old)…

and it was the first version you listed…

Batman smells. Robin laid an egg….blahblah, joker got away.

LOLOLOL… funny how that stuff sticks in your head. I can remember how hard it was snowing that night, and how muffled the cars sounded from all the snow falling!!!

My older brother (10 at the time), normally quite responsible, threw a snowball at a passing car and nailed it hard. The guy stopped, jumped out of his gray 68 Olds (I remember the car!)… and chased, and CAUGHT us!

Gave us a stern talkin to!!! We were just thrilled he didn’t bang on our parents door and tell on us!!! (Which of COURSE woulda been BAD!)

I grew up is Southern Louisiana, just north of Lake Pontchartrain. I’m 40 now and have to say I remember first hearing something along these lines…
Jingle Bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg.
The Batmobile lost a wheel
and the Joker got away (Hey!)
this was around ’78…of course now my youngest who is 8 sings a variation which now includes Spongebob…go figure. Hope your research provides some laughter along the way.

Also in Salt Lake City. My wife learned another Sesame Street hybrid, although similar in the early 1990’s…
Jingle Bells, Batman smells.
Robin laid an egg.
Mr. Hooper laid a pooper
Right on Santa’s sleigh!

I heard this one when I was about about 10 in 1967 in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Jingle bells
Batman smells
Robin laid an eggs
. . . and then I’m not sure . . .
Father Christmas lost his whiskers?
and something about Superman and his underwear??

I know that the batman Version was sung in a Christmas Episode of the Batman Animated Series of the mid 90’s. So I assume most Kids of that era (now in their 20s) learned it from there. At least that’s the most common case in Europe.

Dashing through the snow on a pair of broken skis gliding up a hill santa lost his keys snowmans turning red santa feeling dead all he wants for Christmas is a hospital bed OH Santa Claus Santa Clau Santa Claus is dead Rudolph took a 44 and shot him in the head oh Barbie doll Barbie doll tried to save his life GI JOE from Mexico stabbed her with a knife

This is what I heard way back in the ’60’s as a kid. (I’m Jewish, & I have the impression that at some point some pious Christians substituted Batman instead of Santa…)
Jingle bells Santa smells 40 miles away

The 1st version,
(Jingle Bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg.
The Batmobile lost a wheel
and the Joker got away (Hey!))
late 70s East Coast – Arkansas, Kansas, then VA
This year my kids came home from friends in Oklahoma singing:
Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid a gun,
shot a tree, made it pee, in 1983
Batman in the kitchen
Robin in the hall
Jokers in the bathroom
peeing on the wall!
Catgirl in the litterbox
oh what fun it is to die in a onehorse open sleigh! (my son made up the very last line).

The version I grew up with in the UK is “jingle bells batman smells robin FLEW away”, the rest is the same as your first version. I’ve known this version for as long as I can remember and I was born in 1980.

Hey fun to find this — I think this verse may have originated from the 1966 TV action series Batman starring Adam West. I wonder if it might have started from a character like the Joker (Cesar Romero) or the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) I know I’ve known the chorus since maybe 3/4th grade in Montana, 1969/70. That’s why I think it may have been started by a televised quip by one of the villains? I just had an argument with one of my piano students about the last line – it used to be “Joker got away … ” but now the kids say “Joker took ballet” and will argue that’s right. It travels in 1st and 2nd grade like a virus from state to state. Pretty amazing oral tradition!

I’m from Dublin, Ireland and I first heard the top version (batman smells) in ’92 or ’93 (I’m 25 now) from my Dad. I didn’t really think about it too much until I heard an American talking about it recently. Everyone I know and grew up with in Dublin would be aware of the song. I find it fascinating that it seems to have become a worldwide phenomenon, at least among English speaking countries.

jingle bells batman smells robin layed a egg bad mobile lost a wheel and joker got away…hey! Badmans in the kitchen, robins in the hall, jokes in the washroom… Peeing on the wall! The snow is turning read, I ink I’m going to be dead… WAKE Up in the morning with stiches on my head!

Jingle bells, Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
Batmobile lost a wheel
and the Joker got away (hey!)
Bane is bad, the Penguin’s worse
Mr. Freeze made snow
Gotham City on Christmas
is not a nice place to go! (ho ho ho!)

Almost 9 years but best I can tell no analysis or conclusions. I’ve seen the Animated Series and Simpsons but neither are the origin. Looks like it goes back to the 1960’s at least – but nobody has a better conclusion than that?

I first heard the Batman smells version in 1973 when I was in the 1st grade/Orlando Fl. The nuns at our school hated it and they often would spank us if they heard us singing it. I can remember my older brother knowing it before me, so that would put him at ’71 or ’72 when he picked it up.

Once in first grade I heard my teacher sing Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. Bat mobile lost a wheel, and Bat Girl saved the day. The ones I usually hear end with “And joker got away” but my favorite would have to be “and Joker did ballet”.

Batman’s in the kitchen, Mad hatter’s in the hall,
Joker’s in the backyard peeing on the wall.
Penguin’s on the potty, His arms too short to wipe,
Catwoman’s in the litter box, while the Riddler smokes a pipe.

I see some people saying the words don’t make sense because Robin couldn’t lay eggs, well when I was a kid to ‘lay an egg’ meant you let a stinky one rip. So I’ve always took the words to mean he farted.

I wrote this in the mid 70’s in class 4 for Miss Hooke as part of a school poetry exercise. We were told to write a short poem and then had to deliver it to the class. The actual first ever recital of this was as follows :-

“Jingle bells, Batman smells
Robin’s run away.
The batmobile has lost its wheels,
Hooray, hooray, hooray.”

I delivered this is a stony silent class of six year olds and noone applauded and after I had finished Miss Hooke thanked me and I was asked to sit down. I don’t know if Miss Hooke is alive today but I may have a dated copy of this poem in an old school book I wrote somewhere.

I first heard the same variation of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” that you mention sometime around 1993-ish in Indianapolis, Indiana — about the same time that it appeared at the beginning of episode 2 (“Christmas with the Joker”) of Batman: The Animated Series. The opening line would, of course, be referenced in the 1996 film, “Jingle All the Way,” as spoken by James Belushi.

I found this post in an attempt to learn if the rhyme predated its Batman: The Animated Series occurrence, which I am sure helped in its popularity. Best of luck in tracking this down.

Rob, thank you so much for setting up this page. I was singing it for the first time to my 5 year old son while he screamed with laughter… but I could only remember “batman smells and robin laid an egg” – he will be so happy that I can sing the whole song now!

Jingle bells jingle balls Robin Hood is dead cause rudolf got a 44 and shot him in the head.
Barbie doll barbie doll tried to save his life but G.I Joe from Mexico stabbed her with his knife
Oh
Dashing through the snow without a hope in hell…… And on it goes as I have forgotten
Cheers

Same version as you grew up with (Robin laid an egg one). Time-frame was probably 1966-67 in Easten Townships of Québec, Canada. I was in elementary school in North Hatley, Québec – born in 1955 – sang it on playground and it still rattles around in my mind at Christmas time!

Very interesting post. I’ve been surprised by the young “whippersnappers” who actually think they started it. My husband and I are in our early sixties and both of us remember learning it on the playground in elementary school in the mid 1960’s in Washington state. We were blessed by it again in the eighties when our kids became school age and over the past sixteen years of grandparenthood it has been ringing in our ears nearly continually, the same version you posted, with the occasional variation of Robin flying away, but laying an egg is the optimal giggle inducing choice. It amazes me that something so cheezily retro has become so ingrained in our worldwide culture, enduring the past half a century. Anyone out there expect us to evolve to a more highly refined taste any time soon? Don’t hold your breath.

I Googled this topic because my now 6 yr old is signing new versions I haven’t heard.

One that we sang, that I haven’t seen posted, is:
Jingle Bells, shotgun shells
Granny’s got a gun,
Shot me in the underwear,
And boy I had to run (?)

My 6 yr olds versions:
Jingle bells, Batman smells
Robin laid a gun
He shot a tree and made a pee in 1981

911, 911, someone has a gun
Kicked their butt in Pizza Hut
In 1981

Those are awful..and abviously very new. Trying to get him to stop signing! He also sings it where Robin lays an egg and Joker does ballet (Joker never did ballet for me growing up or my husband who grew up in Washington and OR.)

I was trying to find an inoffensive version of the lyrics for my 5 year old son to learn – something without guns and violence, and ended up writing a couple of verses about some superheroes instead… Here he is singing them:

The earliest I heard it was Second Grade, 1972. I presume it came from kids watching re-runs of the 1966 Batman TV Series, which in those days in New York City ran on WPIX Channel 11. The lyrics I recall went:

This was in Co-op City, Bronx, NY. PS 178, right near the then-new Harry S. Truman High School (little kids were regularly led through the underground tunnel to the High School’s basement, where two full indoor swimming pools were.) I recall in 9th grade I took Boys’ Gymnastics in that same huge basement, where they had a trampoline set up. There was always a line for the trampoline, so Mr. Youngbluth had us use the rings, horse, and parallel bars while we waited–and I recall around Christmas 1979, the boys were still singing that old ditty from 1972!

When I was 7 (year 1995, Ottawa, Canada), I heard the first parody (i forget who sang it first):

Jingle bells
Batman smells
Robin laid an egg
Batmobile lost a wheel
and Joker took ballet

but no one really found it funny. Then later, there was another one going around the schoolyard:

Dashing through the snow
on a broken pair of skis
down the hills we go
crashing into trees
the snow is turning red
i think i lost my head
what fun it is to spend a christmas eve in bed
oh
jingle bells, jingle bells
santa claus is dead
rudolph took a .64 and shot him in the head
BANG!
barbie doll, barbie doll
tried to save his life
but g.i. joe from mexico
just stabbed him with a knife

we found that one much more hilarious. we were a bunch of morbid kids lol

The version we sang in upstate New York (I’m guessing maybe in the late ’50s) went like this:
Jingle bells, Batman smells.
Robin laid an egg.
The Batmobile lost its wheel,
And the Commissioner broke his leg.

This is wonderful, and I love that you did a “9 years later” update. Im 46 and my first child is now 4, and I’m teaching her this son I remeber from my childhood in Toledo, OH, around 1981, or so. I learned the first version you list in the 2006 post.

I stumbled across this looking for different jingle bell lyrics as I was trying to remember one. But as a contribution, when I was a kid in southern Queensland, Australia we had a schoolyard version that went:

Adele is in the kitchen, making Christmas pie
Madonna’s in the living room, kissing Miley Cyrus
Beyonce’s on the potty, clenching her own botty
Ed Sheeran’s pissed, ’cause Kanye dissed his favorite Stones LP!

I learned this one around 11 yrs of age after coming to Australia in 1962. Jingle bells batman smells Robin ran away wonder woman lost her bosom flying TAA. TAA was an airline in Australia at the time.

I heard,
“Jingle bells, Batman smells,
Robin laid an egg.”
I don’t remember what the next two lines were. I also heard,
“Jingle Bells, Shotgun shells,
Santa Claus is dead.
Tried to steal my teddy bear;
I shot him in the head.”

I learned this circa 1972 while living in Prince George’s (or PG as we called it) County, MD. It had the standard first verse that most people seem to have grown up with. The second verse more or less had the “Rudolph ran away” and “beat up Chevrolet” lyrics. However, one friend of mine would sing the second verse with the “shotgun shells” and “Santa’s underwear” lyrics, while another would sing the first verse with the “50 miles away” lyric. It astounds me how many variations there have been!

“Jingle Bells
Batman smells
Robin flew away
He did a fart
Behind a car
And blew up the IRA!”
One of my classmates, a Gregory Addison told me this version while we were both in primary 4 (academic session 1984/85) at Mile End Primary School, Aberdeen.